Okay, so it’s time for a new goal for 2024: more random movie reviews.
I’ve been thinking about this all year, writing reviews for pretty much every – if not ALL – film I see for the first time. There are several reasons for this – not least of which is that SWO Productions could use the content over the next few months – and I think it’s time to end the thought cycle and get into… “making things” mode? That analogy slipped my mind at the end.
I’m doing my best to reach my goal for this year – at least 200 movies I’ve never seen before, including new releases – and I feel like it’s about time I started. I’m a little late, having already seen over 145 such flicks this year, but… better late than never.
And what better way to start than with the first initial observation of this week: LaLaLand.
LaLaLand was a movie that I can sum up everything I knew about in one sentence: It did NOT win the Oscar for Best Picture. LaLaLand was announced as the winner of the award by Warren Beatty at the 2017 Academy Awards, but barely a few moments passed before someone pointed out that Moonlight was the real winner. Amidst the confusion, the rightful champions took the stage and collected their statue.
And for me that was all LaLaLand ever: a memorable moment from an awards ceremony.
Of course, what LaLaLand In fact, it is the story of two wannabe Hollywood conquerors, Mia and Seb (played by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling respectively), who find each other while desperately striving to make their dreams of success and fame come true.
Mia is a barista by day and auditions for roles in TV and movies by night. Her auditions usually don’t go well as she is often ignored or interrupted. Seb is a struggling musician who refuses to play by anyone else’s rules. He adores classic jazz and is desperate to open his own club, even if he has no idea how to go about it.
As love blossoms between them, one of them succeeds and gives up on his dream. The other’s struggles grow as he chases his own. Will they find the success and love they deserve? Or will the Hollywood machine chew them up and spit them out?
+ The technical aspects of La La Land are great. Director Damien Chazelle really has an eye for his work and there are shots and settings that are visually stunning and beautifully crafted. I don’t know if Chazelle storyboarded the script or not, but if so, then he really knows his craft.
The lighting and sets are all great too. LaLaLand is a film that looks perfect in pretty much every way. Whether it’s the extended one-take shots or the framing of the musical numbers, Chazelle’s talent is on point here.
+ Stone and Gosling are unimpeachable in the lead roles and their chemistry is overwhelming. It would be strange to say that they “sizzle” together because the film is honestly quite demure, but they are simply adorable together and really seem like soulmates. Their dialogue flows flawlessly and the looks they give each other are intense.
They get into the roles and shine in their performances. It’s the kind of work where you can’t imagine any of the actors being replaced by anyone else.
– Unless you’ve never seen a movie or read a book, this is a story you’ve seen before. The story of Seb and Mia is neither new nor earth-shattering. Two young people meet and struggle with success in both their personal and professional lives. It’s RomCom 101; this one just has more musical numbers.
I’m often a story-based guy because of my love of writing, and that’s what I pay attention to first and foremost, so I was a little disappointed when I saw that the plot LaLaLand be so unimaginative. There’s just not much about the character arcs that are difficult to predict because there are so many cliches.
– Things get a little confusing in the climax of the film, where LaLaLand gives us an ending, then rewinds all the way to the beginning and gives us an abbreviated alternate ending. The reasoning behind this is a mystery to me, but the film pulls it off; and when the film is already about two hours long without this bizarre way of looking at things, you can’t assume it was just time-bloat.
The movie would have been better off leaving the ending as it is, rather than throwing in that uninvited glimpse through the mirror universe at what could have been. It just interrupts the flow of closure to everything.
